Thursday, December 22, 2016

You know the old story about the guy who was asked why he was banging his head against the wall, and he answered, “Because it feels so good when I stop”? Does it sometimes seem that semester exams right before Christmas holidays are a little like that? There should be a way of both assessing and stimulating student growth in a way that celebrates the journey of the first semester and sets the stage for the second.

This year, for a portion of my exam, I simply asked students to respond to the following prompt: Write an assessment with support of how you have grown as a reader, writer, thinker, discusser/speaker this semester. So I sat on the airplane to my holiday destination reading, not a stack of essays, but testimonies to the learning that had happened during the semester, sprinkled with hints of where we can head next. One of the best Christmas presents ever. Merry Christmas to me!

Here are some of the things my students said:

How I grew as a reader…

I used to only read dystopian…books, but now these aren’t the only things that interest me. I’ve read historical fiction and non-fiction, which is something I actually never thought would happen….The books I’ve read this year have actually been catalysts of conviction for me. I’ve been thinking more about the meaning of the books.

Keeping a “to-read” list is important because it reminds you that once you finish a book, you’re still not done. Reading is important, and it expands knowledge.

In this class you pushed me to read outside of my comfort zone, most noticeably by giving me Sophie’s World. At first I was quite bored with that book, Mrs. Essenburg, but then I began to become more interested in the content. Because of my love of books, I have always had a philosophical outlook on life, I just haven’t really used that outlook in recent years. This book reawakened that dreamy-thinly part of my brain.

How I grew as a writer…

I’m writing more about things I care about, which makes all the difference in the world. My conclusions when it comes to essays have gotten a lot better. I used to just restate my facts and condense the main points down into one paragraph. Now I find a way to engage the reader and relate them to the paper so they can feel connected.

I have begun trying to improve my writing, and now think a lot more about what I’m saying…I do still, however, find myself struggling to form my own voice when writing, as I think a lot of it is either inconsistent, suspiciously reminiscent of other writers, or just poorly done. I hope to work on all of this next semester.

How I grew as a thinker…

Topics like genocide and human dignity really made me think differently. For example, the book Night put me in Elie Wiesel’s shoes (or feet, I guess). It’s different from textbooks or documentaries, as reading allows you to paint your own picture and experience similar feelings.

I think more, and more often. Before I would think without purpose when I read something. However this class has forced me to put my thoughts on paper and this made me think harder and deeper into things that I would usually never care about. I learned how to compose my thoughts…and create things that are comprehensible to others. I would ask more questions …that would stimulate me and my brain much more powerfully. Before I would…think a thought then let it drift away. Now my thoughts and facts remain with me, and I can say what I always meant to say.

In “Justice in an Unjust World,” the author talks about how God cares and suffers with us. How he never grows numb to the world as most do…. Paul [Rusesabagina—the movie Hotel Rwanda and his autobiography An Ordinary Man] was like that. He never grew numb to others’ suffering and saw it all in black and white, clear as crystal, that when so many people are being hurt, or when anyone is being hurt for that matter, that as a human being, possessing human dignity, it is your duty to help. People like him have also changed my way of thinking because I was beginning to grow numb to the suffering myself. Like when that shooting happened at the night club in Florida. I walked into the living room the next morning, saw it on the news, and said, “Really? Again?” Not in a concerned way, just a kind of, oh, the cat missed the litter box AGAIN kind of way. Now, I don’t think that would be my reaction. I was getting so used to hearing bad things that I didn’t really care any more. Is that how people felt about the reports of the Rwandan genocide? Now, because of reading all of these accounts, I am on permanent wake-up call. As a thinker I have become more aware of other people, their needs, and the world around me in general.

How I grew as a discusser/speaker…

I was very nervous because I never discuss things with other people, especially not books and plots and themes of them. However, with these daily discussions I can articulate my thoughts into words and say them with confidence and, yes, in moments I will stay silent, but when I must speak I would speak loud and proud my thoughts and ideas. These are the things in which I believe. I will listen to others and bounce off of them and understand what they mean, to learn and to quote them. To be able to comprehend what others say so that I may learn from them and they may learn from me.

With support from the journals and a different way of thinking, I learned to start and keep a discussion going on with a lot of questions and confidence to speak.

I really just always thought I would be bad at discussing. I was wrong. I got comfortable with my classmates and became more open with anyone. I realized that everyone’s ideas matter and that discussing really helps you think and assess what you’re talking about.

I have learned to come out of my comfort zone and express my thoughts.

I feel that discussion is a big part of your class because it helps us to think, understand, and learn from each other rather than having the teacher feed us their own ideas and thoughts. I think that your class helps us grow individually and teaches us to make our own ideas. I think this is especially good because we won’t always have someone to tell us everything. I’ve also learned to give other people chances, as well as bring people into discussion. As a loud individual…I [formerly] would make everyone else’s ideas change to mine by telling them the answer and not giving them room. I think your class has given me a larger value in listening and applying the ideas of others.

It is so energizing to hear from your students that they are getting the big ideas you’re trying to teach. Bring on the eggnog, and let the holidays begin! May all teachers everywhere get such lovely Christmas presents!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

I might have gotten a little carried away with that response...but who could blame an English teacher for a little excitement when a student actually ASKS, "What is a past participle again?"

In my previous blog, I reflected on what I thought my students had learned in their last essay. I also want to put it out there that as great as it is for teachers to be reflective, it is equally as important for students to be reflective. An assessment—even a summative one—should never be the end—for either teacher or student. And unless it’s the last class of the year, we can help students form the habit and experience the benefit of reflection…as well as benefit from their reflection ourselves as teachers. Note to self: Never, if you can help it, let students turn in an assessment without some form of reflection—what did you learn? what did you struggle with? what progress did you make? what question do you have? what do you want to remember next time?

When my students turn in an assessment I try, at minimum, to ask them to self-assess on the rubric, and to answer 2 questions on the back: (1) What did you learn while working on this assessment? (2) What’s 1 specific question you have for Mrs. E about your performance on this assessment?

The self-assessment on the rubric does not influence their final mark, but it is a way to insure that students are familiar with the rubric, and to teach them that it is not a sign of competence to hand something in and say, “I have no idea whether that is an A or an F, but at least I’m done!” It is a sign of competence to know your strengths and weaknesses. And if there is a big discrepancy between a student’s self-assessment and my assessment, that’s the sign of a misconception somewhere that needs to be addressed!

Here are some of the answers to question #1: What did you learn about writing from working on this essay?

I think I improved on using sources in my writing. I’m still not too great at it, but it’s definitely better.

In this essay I learned that writing in such a broad topic I need to have a concrete conclusion. Also punctuation for sandwiching quotes.

I tried to work on mixing in the quotes to add to my writing.

As I was writing this essay, I learned of a new way to organize an essay.

Here are some of the answers to question #2: What is 1 specific question you have for Mrs. E about your writing in this essay?

I still have a lot of trouble with citations—there’s always something wrong with the formatting—but I think that’s something I need to familiarize myself with and practice on my own.

I had a lot of different metaphors that went in many different directions. Was it confusing? Was it too everywhere?

How to integrate a quote into an essay so that it becomes a part of your writing and not out of place.

When you helped me with the “striven” part of my essay, I was wondering, what is a past participle again?

How can I write like this on the actual AP exam?

When students are able not only to identify but also to take responsibility for their writing strengths and weaknesses. When they are the ones asking questions about their use of metaphors, integration of quotations, and what is a past participle again? When they are asking how they can do their best work under pressure….teaching is easy. It is, as a number of them quoted from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Education,” “mutual delight.”

Saturday, December 10, 2016

This year I have been targeting helping students actively engage in reading like writers. I’ve done some activities that seem to give traction, like this one on transitions. As I teach rhetorical strategies in AP Language and Composition, and as we identify those strategies in the writers we read, try them on for size on our own notebooks, and get feedback on essay drafts, I hope students are making the transfer to their own writing.

But are they? Are the rhetorical moves we are studying actually showing up in student writing?I just collected a processed piece of writing, and this is what I saw…

We must learn to think so that we can think to learn. (What I taught: Antimetabole! Like Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” Or Aristotle’s “Eat to live; don’t live to eat.” I didn’t see this move in this student’s writing last year!)

All three of these people did just that. They changed not just their lives, but also inspired those around them! We can do the same; I want to do the same. (What I taught: In your conclusion go global and noble. Do something more than restate your thesis and preview of points: inspire!)

I am a seventeen-year-old just who gets tired of school sometimes. Hauling around a ten-to-fifteen-pound backpack and struggling to understand Algebra II easily wears on me. And occasionally, all the work makes me with I could go ahead a graduate. However, there is a reason for caressing aching shoulders and whiting out wrong answers: schooling matters. It’s better to deal with backaches due to textbooks than to bending over a factory conveyor belt. And even though many view school’s sole purpose as studying, the reality is that much more than book knowledge is learned. True education is not limited to the rigid rules of chemistry and Japanese; it encompasses subjects, social rules, and self. School exposes you to all of those elements, and in doing so, rewards you with a rich, real education that prepares you for the real world. (What I taught: Well…here is a student who takes every single word down in her notebook and then works to use it—personal example as appeal to ethos, details to show not tell, specifics to stand for generalizations, parallelism, power use of colon and semicolon, alliteration…. She was good last year, and this is a whole new level.)

I saw a lot of sophisticated transition, too. That’s just harder to capture in a sentence or four. When I returned students’ first drafts with my revision suggestions, I shared these excellent examples—and a few more—with the whole class, so the students, too, could see that as a class, their reading was informing their writing style. So they could appreciate each other’s triumphs. And so they could have one more example of where and how to use rhetorical strategies to aim at communication to an audience with a purpose.

I can do even better. I think I might have had students write a model sentence in their notebooks three times this semester. But I’m encouraged that I can see that the steps I’ve taken are producing results, and that motivates me to, as my children’s Bop It game used to tell them, “Do it again, but BETTER!”

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Where do your students get their news? What do they know about bias and credibility of sources? Is it important that they understand these concepts? Do THEY know that it is important for them to understand these concepts?

In a world where last week a front-page BBC article is titled “Facebook, fake news and the meaning of truth,” we need to seriously consider these questions—and not just hope that some past or future teacher has covered or will cover it, since no teacher ever taught US, so we’re not really sure how to go about teaching anyone else.

Here’s what happened to me and in my class in the last two weeks—at first surprising and a little frightening as a work check-point turned into formative assessment, then a little nerve-wracking as I tried something new, and finally very exciting as students took ownership of the necessity of understanding bias and credibility in news and other online sources.

I gave 10th graders a Google Classroom assignment to hold them accountable for their research during the period before Thanksgiving break since I was missing class for an educators’ conference. The assignment was basically a 2-item annotated bibliography on the research question they had each brainstormed the day before. They were to find 2 sources and for each one, record the publication information in MLA Works-Cited page format and write one sentence explaining why it is a credible source and one explaining why it is relevant to their question.

As I read their answers, on my laptop in my hotel room, to why the source is credible, I realized they clearly knew a little, and they clearly needed to know more. Here were some of their answers:

Because it has contact information.

Because it has links.

Because it’s dedicated to my topic.

Because it’s a news source.

Each sentence is one piece of an over-all picture of credibility, but none are stand-alone assurances.

So the first 2 days back to school, we put research on hold, and our objective became to learn about bias and credibility in online sources. This was our learning plan for day 1:

Why is this website credible? Students spent 5 minutes freaking out over the amazing Pacific Northwest tree octopus. One student asked to go to the bathroom and then forgot about it (that’s real engagement!). Another student said, “This almost sounds like a hoax web site, but I know it’s not.” Then they finally began catching on. Sasquatch? Hey, wait a minute.

Read this article to discuss what is fake news, what is bias, and why it matters. When students read that 40%-60% of Americans use Facebook as their primary news source, many said, “Not me—mine is Instagram.” So I asked if they could name original sources that people on their feed posted. Segue to the next topic…

Where do you get your news? Can you list the names of newspapers, periodicals, web sites? What are their bias? We briefly discussed left/center/right, liberal/conservative. One of the students had actually used Breitbart and Slate as the 2 sources—I pointed out what a fascinating comparison could be made if one were aware that the 2 sources had diametrically opposed political biases! And we used this web page to classify a few of the sources we’d listed.

Day 2 we started out with a discussion of what they’d learned in last night’s reading. Then I projected a white supremacist web site. We discussed what factors reduced its credibility even though it had some of the factors they’d cited at first as credible: contact information, links, dedicated to one topic.

Oh, the discussions that ensued! Discussions about primary and secondary sources, about grammar and capitalization, about corroborating information googled, about whether having a stated bias made a source not credible or was just something to be aware of….

Once I sent them off to continue their research and find 2 more credible, relevant sources, they paid much more attention to credibility. One student, researching what had happened to the rest of Elie Wiesel’s family, told me he found such non-credible sites, so now he was using the Jerusalem Post. I asked, “What is its bias?” He said, “When I looked it up, it was really confusing….” And we had a good discussion of how even the sites labeling bias are biased! (But he’d actually looked it up!!!)

Yup, that was an exciting week. Which brings me back to where I started: Where do your students get their news? What do they know about bias and credibility of sources? Is it important that they understand these concepts? Do THEY know that it is important for them to understand these concepts?

If you haven’t asked them, please do. If they’re not masters, teach them something. If you don’t know what to teach them, here are a few resources I’ve collected over the last 2 weeks:

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Question: What would the product of the ideal education Emerson describes be like?(Long, awkward silence.)

Student 1: Um…like…the ideal man? Smart?

Student 2: But not just academically smart—also imaginatively smart.

Student 3: It sounds like…what do you call it when people used to work for someone in order to learn how to do their job?

Student 4: An apprenticeship?

Student 3: Yeah! An apprenticeship! Not just memorizing stuff for a test, but a relationship where the student learns to think and learn like the teacher.

At this point I was so excited about what I thought I had just seen happen that I stopped the students and said, “Let me ask some questions about what just happened here. It seems to me like the first person thought her answer was not very good, but since she hadn’t spoken much in the previous round, she figured she needed to jump in and say something.” That speaker grinned sheepishly and confirmed my inference.

I continued, addressing the second student: “When did you formulate your idea—did you have it at the beginning, or did you come up with it while the first speaker was talking?” “While the first speaker was talking.”

Then I turned to the third student: “And when did you formulate your idea? Did you have it at the beginning, or did you formulate it while the second student was talking?” “While the second student was talking.”

The light was beginning to dawn on all of them, and I summed it up: “So you don’t have to have the most brilliant observation in order to speak up—it might just be that your ‘obvious’ answer is just what is needed to spark the next thought, which is just what is needed to spark brilliance. And it never would have happened if someone hadn’t started the chain reaction.” They all grinned with the epiphany.

Our next discussion, though, on the introductory matter to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, was less than inspiring—for a variety of reasons. Each person offered up her own response in sequence, but they were all disconnected. No one built on or responded to another.

The following day I had posted on the board our reasons for reading, which are…

What is the author saying? (Questions about vocabulary? Background information? Clarification?)

How is the author saying it? (Notice rhetorical choices—diction, syntax, style—and the effect they have.)

Why is the author saying it? (So what? How does it connect to other texts, to my experience, or to anything else I know about the world? How does it help me shape my answer to the question “What role does schooling play in a true education?”)

And I handed out the discussion rubric they’d seen before (see below). I asked them just to review it and, in light of the less-than-inspiring discussion of the previous day, set a goal for themselves to make today’s discussion better, to pursue the goal of deepening their own understanding and that of their classmates.

“Are we supposed to evaluate yesterday’s discussion?” one student asked.

“Oh, no,” I recoiled in horror. “We’re cutting our losses on that one, learning from them, and focusing on doing it better today.” They seemed relieved about that.

Then I turned them loose. What a difference! There were questions on background information. There was a wrong statement made, which began devolving into a back-and-forth “yes-she-did”/“no-she-didn’t” war of attrition, which nearly made me give the answer, but I remembered at the last minute to say instead, “Cite your proof.” At which everyone began flipping through their books. The first student to find it began triumphantly reading, then suddenly stopped with an “oh” as she read the words that supported her opponent. Later another student revealed a misunderstanding, and a classmate immediately flipped to a passage that clarified the question.

In our debrief on that discussion I told them I was proud of them for speaking up even with questions and misunderstandings--because how in the world are you going to get it right if you don't find out you're wrong? I hope our classroom is a safe place to do that. And I told them I was proud of them for going to the source for evidence, and for helping each other out and building off each other's answers.

Sometimes we all—teachers and students—just need a little reminder about our goals and purpose and the best ways of getting there.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

AP English 11 students work to put Emerson's paragraphs in order, using critical thinking, inference, and their notes.

Nobody is against teaching critical thinking. We’re just always looking for ways to get traction on something we can’t actually see. It’s like the wind: we can see what it does, but we can’t see IT.

That’s why I’m always excited when I feel like I catch a glimpse of IT. Like 2 weeks ago, when I posted about an exercise in ordering paragraphs of an assigned reading with my 10th grade class.

This week I did a similar exercise with my 11th grade AP students. And, as appropriate for the step from 10th grade to 11th grade, it was a little more complex. Mostly the reading itself was more complex: rather than being a modern author, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson. I was hesitant to try the exercise: as I looked at the Emerson reading, I thought, “The paragraphs are so much longer than in modern writing, most containing what would now be several paragraphs, and the transitions are by no means obvious.” And then I thought, “But if students can articulate those 2 thoughts themselves as a result of this exercise, it will be a score for critical thinking. And there ARE relationships between the paragraphs—but they are by concept, by logical argument development, and not by obvious transition words.”

And understanding each of 10 paragraphs from an excerpt of “Education” WAS the assignment, summarizing each in one line.

So I copied the 10 paragraphs, cut them apart, and for the beginning-of-class exercise, asked pairs of students to arrange the paragraphs in the order they thought best—from their understanding of the development of Emerson’s argument—without looking at their notes or at their texts.

Then, when they had the best order they could come up with, they could get out their notes—their one-line summary of each paragraph—compare between partners, and compare to the ordering of their paragraphs, making changes if necessary. (I overheard remarks like, “Are we talking about the same paragraph?” Hmmm. But that will spur them to look more closely later!)

Finally, they could get out their text to check. Then they were to create a diagram somehow representing the development of Emerson’s argument. (I modeled the first 4 paragraphs on the board: Claim => Counterclaim + rebuttal => 2 points of education [genius & drill] with balance of paragraph spent defining “genius” => 1 long anecdotal example of genius.)

I’m excited because I saw students really discussing Emerson’s ideas—what he meant in a paragraph, and how that relates to the ideas in the other paragraphs. Here are some of the things students said in exit tickets that they learned:

I learned about the ideal education as well as some good places to put examples.

I learned that if I enjoy what I do I’ll continue to get better. I not only need my experiences, but others’ as well.

I realized, after we put [the paragraphs] in correct order, that Emerson has an argument that builds up throughout the essay.

I’m also excited because students will be grappling with multiple perspectives. Before this old, dead white man’s ideas about education, they’d read a modern, upper-middle-class white woman’s perspective (Francine Prose, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Cannot Read”). Next they will read the perspectives of a Native American man (Sherman Alexie, “Superman and Me”), an African-American man (James Baldwin, “A Talk to Teachers”), a Japanese-American woman (Kyoko Mori, “Education”), and a specifically Christian perspective (Cornelius Plantinga Jr., “Educating for Shalom: The Calling of a Christian College”). Finally, they’ll read Fredrick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of a Slave.

Then they will write an essay on the essential question we’ve been considering all along: What is the relationship of schooling and a true education? They will have to have read critically and empathetically a wide variety of perspectives—varied by time, race, gender, class, religion—and synthesize those voices with their own thoughts as related to what they spend 6+ hours of every weekday doing. Breakdown questions include the following: What is a "true education"? What part does "schooling" play? What is my responsibility--to my own education/schooling and to others'?

I think that specific paragraph-arranging exercise helped—helped the thinking, helped the writing. And I look forward to reading the answers students will eventually come up with. As current politics rage and swirl around us, this is what I continue to do every day: look for ways to help students listen empathetically to multiple voices in a conversation, think critically about them, articulate compellingly their own considered synthesis, and contribute respectfully their voice back into the conversation.

May we all, whatever our purview, continue to do what God has always expected of His people: to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).

Friday, November 4, 2016

What did you do the last time you finished reading a book you’d picked up just because you’re a reader? I’ll bet you didn’t take a test or spend hours creating an elaborate project! You may have talked to a friend—whether to gush, complain, recommend, or just process. You may have posted a review online—on Amazon, Goodreads, your own blog, or just a quick tweet or Facebook note.

I want my students to become reading adults. Since they are already 10th and 11th graders, if they’re not going to major in English (and statistics say that’s highly unlikely), school has only a very short time left to help them toward this goal. One thing we can do is replicate as closely as possible what it’s like to be a reading adult, and in such a way that there’s a high probability students will experience the enjoyment, community, stimulation, and growth that keeps us adult readers coming back to the books.

At the end of first quarter, in an attempt to simulate the way adults would respond to a book, I gave my students three options for reporting on their independent reading: (1) post a review on Goodreads (200+ words), (2) make an individual appointment with me for a 10-minute book talk before school, after school, or at lunch, or (3) share in a whole-class round-table discussion during the final period of the quarter.

Results? Individual book talk appointments with me were a distant last place. (And that is what I did exclusively 2 years ago…at great commitment of my time!) Some students really got into posting reviews (a new option this year), and a slight majority opted to share with the whole class. (This was especially well-received by the juniors with whom I’d initiated this option previously. Some of them lit up when they said, “Oh! We get to do that circle thing like we did last year!”) A few students expressed interest in sharing more than one way! Some specifics:

One student who had already had an individual book talk with me about Challenger Deep by Neal Schuster was able to also share in some extra time at the end of our round-table discussion. He told me later that sharing with whole class was more fun.

One student who had posted review on Brave New Worldbrought the book to the round-table, and when we ran out of time for her to share again, she asked, “Can we continue this on Monday?”

One student shared with the class her excitement about A Thousand Splendid Suns, and how she enjoys novels about women in Middle Eastern countries. (Last year she’d enjoyed The Pearl that Broke Its Shell.) As she was walking out of class, I handed her the nonfiction book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women World Wide. That was Monday. By Friday she was 3/4 done and sharing with a friend how great it was.

But are they taking it out of the classroom? That Thursday and Friday we had High School Camp. Thursday night, just before lights out, I lay in my bunk, staring at my Kindle, trying hard not to let on how much English-teacher-geek joy I was getting out of overhearing this unprompted conversation, as the girls in my cabin discussed what’s so great about John Green and the relative merits of various fantasy series (Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Harry Potter, and Divergent). One girl wasn’t talking; she was reading.

Friday afternoon, after we’d gotten back to school and while students were waiting for their rides, I had a discussion with one student about themes that all great science fiction shares. I passed Ready Player One on to him, and he promised to get me Dune. Later that evening, a friend of his had also marked Ready Player One as “to-read” on Goodreads.

I can always do more and better, and I’m always looking to up my game and help more kids connect with their inner reader. But right now, I’m just going to take the rest of the weekend to celebrate the successes I’ve seen.

How do you respond to a book when you’ve finished? How do you help students experience the joy of an adult reading life? What successes have you seen? Celebrate them! Let’s learn from each other and try again next week.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

10th graders look for the clues the author left to lead the reader from one paragraph to the next.

I think this paragraph is the conclusion because it comes back to the same idea as the very beginning, and applies it to everyone.

This is a story illustrating the general idea in this paragraph, so it must come after it.

These three paragraph are all about words. They must go together.

This paragraph has the word failure in every sentence, and this one has failure in just the first sentence, so that must be the transition word.

This paragraph’s first sentence says, “What had caused this to happen?” We have to find the this that it’s talking about.

I used to hope for observations like this when I asked students to especially note transitions as they did a close reading and annotated a passage, but the conversations were never this good. They were more like this: “This author uses good transitions.”

This week, I actually heard these conversations. Among my students!

What’s the difference? They had to do something. And not just highlight and discuss. They had to engage. Inquire. Solve a problem. Physically manipulate things. Feedback from others helped. They could hypothesize, try it out, look at it, modify it, and try it again. And then there was a real-life check at the end. A right answer to the puzzle. Had they figured it out? How a real-life, published author led his readers from one paragraph to the next. (Hint: It isn't always the same. There are many ways, and they all work.)

What did they have to do? Work with their table group of 4 to physically arrange the last 11 paragraphs of the assigned reading in order. I had made a copy of those paragraphs for each group, cut the paragraphs apart, scrambled them, and piled them in the middle of the table.

It wasn’t a totally blind exercise. They had read and annotated the “Introduction” to An Ordinary Man, the memoir of the protagonist of the movie Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina, who hid 1,268 people inside his hotel when the 1994 genocide broke out in his country.

There were 3 purposes for reading: (1) What the author says: background information for the genocide and to render less confusing some clips from the movie we would watch the next day, (2) How the author says it: notice especially organization (thesis, introduction, topic sentences, transitions, and conclusion), and (3) So what: How does this connect to the questions “What is human dignity and why does it matter?” and “Genocide—why does it keep happening even after the world says, ‘Never again’?” that we will be addressing in our reading of the Holocaust memoir Night?

I had modeled my thinking by reading the first section aloud and voicing my reflections on those 3 purposes as I read. Then they read and annotated the last 2 sections, noting 3 “so what” observations in their journals.

The next day in class, we compiled a list of facts and background information as a whole class. Then I let them discuss anything they’d noted in the second section. And then, instead of asking them to discuss their observations about organization, I told them to put away their readings, and I gave each group a pile of 11 paragraphs, cut apart and scrambled. Every single student was engaged in trying to figure out which paragraph went where.

Before I finally allowed them to get out the original and check, I told them they might have a few paragraphs out of order, but the really important thing was the conversations they’d had and the thinking they’d done about what connects one paragraph to the next.

I wonder what are more ways I can get students actively engaged in developing real understanding of the content and skills I teach?